Magnetic solid-phase extraction coupled with UHPLC–MS/MS for four antidepressants and one metabolite in clinical plasma and urine samples

Abstract

Aim: Routine therapeutic drug monitoring is highly recommended since common antidepressant combinations increase the risk of drug–drug interactions or overlapping toxicity. Materials & methods: A magnetic solid-phase extraction by using C18-functionalized magnetic silica nanoparticles (C18-Fe3O4@SiO2 NPs) as sorbent was proposed for rapid extraction of venlafaxine, paroxetine, fluoxetine, norfluoxetine and sertraline from clinical plasma and urine samples followed by ultra-HPLC–MS/MS assay. Results: The synthesized C18-Fe3O4@SiO2 NPs showed high magnetization and efficient extraction for the analytes. After cleanup by magnetic solid-phase extraction, no matrix effects were found in plasma and urine matrices. The analytes showed LODs among 0.15–0.75 ng ml-1, appropriate linearity (R ≥ 0.9990) from 2.5 to 1000 ng ml-1, acceptable accuracies 89.1–110.9% with precisions ≤11.0%. The protocol was successfully applied for the analysis of patients’ plasma and urine samples. Conclusion: It shows high potential in routine therapeutic drug monitoring of clinical biological samples.